Journal of Digital Landscape Architecture

Iterative Digital Photo-based Assessment for
Rural Landscape Perception: A Small Experiment
from County Wicklow, Ireland

Photography – a simulation of the landscape – is often used to assess visual qualities of landscapes,
silently implying there is consensus around what remains the best representation of a given
landscape. In this study we examine if such a consensus in visually experiencing a landscape truly exists
and what the main differences in visual perceptions of landscape are. To gather participant’s visual
experiences, a participant generated image (PGI) method was used. Each participant took a photo,
which he/she believed best represented the surrounding landscape and provided reasoning for their
choice. With a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis three distinct perceptions were found.
Each places different emphasis on land uses, locality and the concept of nature. The study shows the
plurality of visual experiences of a landscape, suggesting caution when using surrogates for representing
a landscape and offers alternative possible applications of the PGI method for evoking and understanding
people’s views of landscape.